After losing over 40 pounds over the last year and change, I was in desperate need of an entirely new wardrobe. My closet was a shell of its former self as I had to give most of my clothes away. No point in keeping things that I don’t plan on wearing again. And if I do plan on wearing them again, I hope that it’s far enough in the future that it would all look very, very dated.
I love wearing clothes that are on trend. I love wearing new clothes. I love rotating my wardrobe for different seasons. I also like maintaining the comfortable cushion in my bank account and the thought of having to drop several hundred, if not thousands, on new clothes. I’m cheap, ok. I know it. It partly stems from having been so poor for so long that I’m still getting used to the idea that I can afford these things. That I deserve to have clothes that fit and aren’t torn.
Once I got over the whole spending money thing, I had to rethink where I wanted to shop for my clothes. My go-to places used to be fast fashion spots like forever 21, and H&M, and the like. Even though I really love the look of the clothes at stores like that (and, let’s be honest the price), the quality is terrible. Good luck washing anything and having it come out even looking remotely like it did when you bought it.
I asked my friends on Instagram what their favorite stores were and I was blessed by one friend (thank you, Michelle <3) who told me about Asos. Which turned out to be the perfect place to find all of the basics. Plain tees and tanks galore. In every cut imaginable. In every size imaginable. Ethically sourced and made at a price point closer to H&M.
I loved my first order so much I ended up immediately subscribing to the $20/year 2-day shipping offer. Worth every penny.
But I was still hesitant to fork over money for some of the more trendy pieces I kept scrolling past. The prices made me a little uncomfortable. Especially once I considered that the trendy pieces just aren’t going to last. Even if they never fall apart, eventually that cut out shoulder top is going to look like it came from 2018 and it’ll stay in the back of my closet until it either no longer fit or somehow comes back in style again in 20 years. Nevermind the fact that I simply don’t want to fill my closet up just to have a full closet. I actually quite like that my side of the walk-in is mostly empty. I kind of want to keep it that way.
It’s hard trying to be a fashionable, but also fiscally responsible person.
That’s where clothing rental came in and saved my unstyled booty. It probably took hearing two dozen Le Tote ads on various podcasts before it finally clicked that this could be the solution to my problems. A constantly rotating wardrobe and consistently empty closet. Um, yes, please.
One thing I really appreciate is that they don’t just send you clothes based on the size, but on your measurements. It does open your eyes to how truly bogus clothing sizes are, and I’ll never rely on them again to compare my body to anyone or anything else. I’ve had clothing show up, in one tote, that was an xs, medium, and a 6. But it all fit. If you give them your accurate measurements and use their recommendations when swapping items out of your tote, you will only get clothes that fit you.
Tote Swap allows you to swap out any or all of the items they’ve picked for your next tote. When you select an item to swap in, it will tell you that a size might be too loose in your chest or waist, for example, or, as is often the case for me, too long. Trust their guidelines. I’ve had a few too long items because I thought Le Tote was wrong.
One thing they don’t advertise, but I personally think Le Tote should make a big deal about is the fact that you have less laundry to do. That’s right. You send that sh*t right back dirty. I’ve gone from doing laundry every week to about every 2 weeks. In fact, I’m doing so much less laundry I’m actually separating my whites for a bleach wash.
In the three months, I’ve been a subscriber, I’ve worn probably about $2100 worth of clothes and I’ve only paid $180 to use it.
Oh, and my closet is nice and tidy.
If you want to give it a spin, use my link to get your first tote free (if you sign up through my link, I will receive a $25 credit towards clothing purchases when you complete your first month).
And here are a few of the outfits I’ve worn since becoming a subscriber in June:
